8 September 2007:
Australian industry and society is
undergoing a revolution – to seeing waste as a valuable
national resource, a source of new business opportunities and
jobs.
“The zero waste industry is taking off
in a big way,” says Associate Professor Neal Menzies, who
heads the prevention technologies programme for the Cooperative
Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the
Environment (CRC CARE).
“Large companies are investing in it,
and selling materials they once sent to the tip. It’s
becoming increasingly competitive as more and more companies are
making profits from it
“Zero Waste is less about total
elimination of waste than a profound change in the attitude of
society and industry. For thousands of years we’ve been
throwing things away which contain a great deal of value, if we
could just alter our processes slightly.”
Zero Waste is about developing industrial
systems that minimize unwanted byproducts in the first place, and
which find effective and safe uses for those that are produced,
Prof. Menzies says.
“For example old metal scraps and
turnings of copper, brass, zinc and so on are now being used as
micronutrients in advanced fertilizers – so putting a true
value on the metal.
“Another is the 13 million tonnes of
fly-ash produced by Australian power stations each year, much of
which is now being used as roadbase, to make concrete or,
potentially, to make slow-release fertilizer.”
There will always be waste streams from
industrial processes, he says – but these can be fine-tuned
to the point where waste disposal costs nothing or, better still,
turns a profit.
“If we keep on dumping our waste in
landfills, we are creating problems for future Australians –
the same sort of problems which CRC CARE is now endeavouring to
solve in Australia’s tens of thousands of
historically-contaminated sites.
“The best approach is to design
industrial processes where waste is made safe and re-used for
something else.”
On average Australians produce almost 750kg
waste per person per year, which is currently choking landfills and
posing a costly headache for municipal authorities.
Especially critical is the problem of wet
waste or effluent, which contains a large amount of water that is
currently lost.
CRC CARE managing director Professor Ravi
Naidu says the recycling of water is of special urgency.
“Global consumption of water is doubling every 20 years, more
than twice the rate of human population growth. More than a billion
people on earth already lack access to fresh drinking water
“By 2025 the demand for fresh water is
expected to rise by 56 per cent more than is currently available
and recycling becomes a critical issue. Australia has already seen
this in cities such as Toowoomba and Goulburn, where water is now
very scarce.”
Water and other substances can only be
recycled if toxins can be identified and separated from them. Prof.
Menzies says a key driver is the scientific ability to analyse the
content of waste streams in minute detail, in real time, to
identify contaminants and design ways to deal with them.
“Our programme is helping to redesign
industrial systems so that their byproducts become feedstocks for
other industries.
“For example, for years society did
not re-use sewage, despite its nutrient value, because of the heavy
metals in it. We can now control the entry of heavy metals
into effluent streams. We can also assess how much heavy
metal a soil can lock up without creating a hazard to the food
chain. This means we are now in a position to make use of the
nutrients from sewage to food production.”
Prof. Menzies says the new techniques of
waste re-use will depend critically on understanding, acceptance
and support from the community.
“The public today is far more able to
understand the science and the effort industry is making to recycle
and re-use waste. But a major effort must be made to explain
new techniques and technologies to them, so they truly understand
the risks and the advantages.”
CRC CARE’s prevention research programme will
include
- finding ways to deal with contaminants in
agricultural wastes, so they can be used to improve soil fertility
without damage to soil structure
- developing ways to treat solid waste, manures and
composts, so they release nutrients at a predictable rate and can
be used as fertilizers
- studying the uptake of metals by various grasses
and pastures, to minimize the amount of heavy metals entering the
food chain via livestock so the waste stream is safe for
recycling.
More information:
Associate Professor Neal Menzies, CRC CARE and University of
Queensland, 07 3365 2059 or 0403 176 934. Email: n.menzies@mailbox.uq.edu.au
Professor Ravi Naidu, CRC CARE, 08 8302 5041 or 0407 720 257
Kim Sinclair, CRC CARE communication, ph 08 8302 3933 or 0416 095
324
Kim.sinclair@crccare.com
www.crccare.com
About CRC CARE:
CRC CARE is an Australian partnership of
scientific, industry and government organisations set up to devise
new ways of dealing with and preventing contamination of soil,
water and air.
Its goals include:
- Cleaner, safer food supplies, water and
living conditions leading to a reduced toll of disease due to toxic
contamination of our food, water, air and living conditions
- Benefits of up to $1.8 billion per year from
direct savings in remediation and improved values or remediated
land
- A cleaner natural environment for Australia and
its neighbours.
CRC CARE is part of the Australian
Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program.
